horrible and not horrific

I’ve watched a couple of episodes of “American Horror Story,” a series created by the same team behind “Glee” namely Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, from different seasons and my opinion hasn’t changed. It’s a show that relies on shock and heavy-handedness. The twists and craziness the show is passing off as artistic flourishes only reveal the creators having incoherent minds and too much budget on their hands (and yet the show still looks cheap). I’d watch a Koreanovela over this stunt anytime. If you guys really want a good dose of horror, try watching “Black Mirror.”

[image lifted from this site]

back to the big top

I remember watching the first episode of Daniel Knauf’s “Carnivàle” in 2006 and was left astounded by its vision and orchestration. It had a good versus bad story like no other. It was the very moment I thought television can be greater than the movies. Featuring a world set between the two World Wars and characters so bizarre and meticulously written “Game of Thrones,” “The Walking Dead,” and “American Horror Story” would pale in comparison (even by its opening credits alone), the series was unfortunately cancelled by HBO after a two season run. It was a sad, missed opportunity like so many great TV shows cut short (i.e. “Awake,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Enlightened”). The creator Daniel Knauf kept silent until early last year when he spoke about the grander plan for his show in an article for the AV Club. It is crushing to revisit one’s imagination and talent that never fully get there. But despite the show’s absence in the general conversation of today, there are those who are still enamored by the power of its story. I am one of them. Season 3 should be made.

the test dream

1.

These days, I’m back again to remembering my dreams. But before anyone could slam this down as a review of ambitions and rousing inventories of B.S., let me be clear that I am referring to that reel playing in your head when you are asleep—snoring optional.

Just today, without disclosing too much, I could recall last night’s story and set of images that includes a full moon, a pig pen, a high-ceilinged bedroom, a mattress, a clump of hair, a pale blue plastic barrel, a sunny morning, and dirty fingernails among many other things.

There is a narrative that strings them all, surprisingly logical, but what I could not work out is how all of these come together. Where did that come from? Why did it turn out that way?

If studies or theories are to be considered, that dreams are manifestations of desires and anxieties, then I suppose I am an alien in this planet. Such want and concern have no place in a world obsessed with expectations, order, and the elusive happy ending.

Strangely enough, dreams in our sleep further make a mockery of our dreams—of which, this time, I mean objectives, aspirations, targets. Put the fluidity and randomness of a dream next to a goal, and the latter would definitely pale in comparison based on truthfulness alone. What you are aiming at would look like a joke.

Why? As much as we want a straight, smooth path, life never has one and never will, its roads and paths and alleyways all crooked, forking, steep or narrow. Just like a dream, it is damn irregular. That is why.

For all our pessimism about how shockingly unrealistic events and people could be, about how we think our problems and privileges are worse and better than anybody else’s, it seems we are all goofing around. Real life is one, long hallucinatory ride, and there is no jumping off this train. Unless.

2.

Speaking of unrealism, I don’t get why someone could complain how unrealistic movies can be. An acquaintance who has seen Tony Gilroy’s The Bourne Legacy shares to the world (she tweeted her thoughts) that she is a bit disappointed because it is “funny” and “unrealistic.”

Funny, yes, it has its comedic moments, especially the punchline-worthy revelation of the Philippines as a crucial destination for our runaway black op member. But unrealistic? It is not a perfect film, but that raised an eyebrow.

We let slip in our collective suspension of disbelief the orcs in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the spell-casting wands in the Harry Potter flicks or the biceps bursting in The Expendables, therefore we must not question the skill-enhancing drugs, the feverish chase, or the unlimited bullets fired in The Bourne Legacy. And above all, we must not compare the Manila in the film to the Manila we know. Remember, there’s what you call the power of editing. Like some divine gift, everything’s possible: Crash your motorcycle somewhere in Pasay and cruise next on Palawan waters in seconds!

The point is unrealism is vital to a movie. It fascinates, entertains, and brings a jumble of emotions in a viewer—whether good or bad is another story. Unrealism makes us evaluate our own reality, see what works and won’t, while feasting on the improbability-made-possible through filmmaking techniques. In some ways, a movie is an accomplished dream on screen.

So next time, dear moviegoer, never bring up unrealism as a cinematic issue. If the urge is too hard to resist, just settle with the documentaries on History Channel or National Geographic.

3.

When I can faintly recall a dream upon waking, I try to squeeze out every trace of it from my head, summon the cohesiveness that starts to materialize, and write all of it swiftly on paper, in the phone or the iPod. Every passing second is an open window for distraction, so it has to be done fast. This week alone, I manage a record of two accounts. Though they resemble less of a nightmare, I could not say they are the sweetest of dreams either. If this is a motif that would stretch on until the next few days, then allow me to say my apologies now for being as dour as ever.

4.

Contrary to popular belief, almost all of my dreams are vividly colored. Almost, because I remember one from four years ago that is in sepia. Yes, a freaking, Instagramic sepia.

5.

I’ve just suggested to someone to watch The Sopranos because it remains my all-time favorite, because I think it is one of the best products of pop-culture ever made, and because I think people better waste their time on something that does not waste their time at all. (Another example: reading).

One of the episodes of this six-season serial drama that revolves around the life of an Italian-American mobster is entitled “The Test Dream.” David Chase, writer of this particular episode, (and also the series’ creator and executive producer) explains in an interview that the title “refers to the dreams where an individual turns up late for a test in school and is wearing no clothing, meaning that the person is unprepared for a test or another task they have to face.”

It is a fine episode, as usual. And that’s all I’ve got to say. Just watch the show.

6.

If this is not a test dream, am I prepared for this?

just another excuse

Not much writing has been done lately. Reading is even shamelessly stalled in the meantime. Blame that to the weather and the television shows, “Community” and “Happy Endings” (especially the former). Comedies in general often fail to tickle me, so when I first reacted to the two the way I should supposedly be reacting to humor upon first viewing, I could not let them go. Please forgive me of my weaknesses. Also, this entry is another form of stalling (when I am supposed to be writing). I must get back to my drafts. But first, I need to see that new episode. Bye.

new addiction

It may be too early to tell (and too late to share), having just watched the third season of “The Sopranos,” but it seems this show really does deserve all the hype I’ve heard and read in the late 90’s until the mid 2000’s.

Setting aside the (sometimes) gratuitous scenes, ‘brilliant’ and ‘great’ could not simply contain my thoughts about the television series. It has become my latest crack.

Never had I been into such mobster dramas. Heck, gas up the stakes, I haven’t even seen “Goodfellas” or one film of “The Godfather” trilogy yet. But what plays on the screen just backs up Norman Mailer’s assertion that it is the successor to the “Great American Novel.”

Television as literature. That’s one big, if not questionable, accomplishment.

The show touches parenting, the economy, the dynamics of moral values, the rise and fall of clans, the divide between races, the complexities of the human psyche, the references to literary texts like Marcel Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past,” the meaning or the absence of dreams, the ducks in the swimming pool. It is a hodgepodge of random things but nothing could be more human or real than an unorganized setup.

In a New York Times interview back in 2004, the show’s creator David Chase said, “I think there should be visuals on a show, some sense of mystery to it, connections that don’t add up. I think there should be dreams and music and dead air, and stuff that goes nowhere. There should be, God forgive me, a little bit of poetry.”

Bless the heavens for people with such proclivities! I didn’t know they still exist, more so in the restrictive medium that is the television. A little bit of poetry. I guess this is the very ingredient that got me engrossed with series like “Carnivalé,” “Six Feet Under,” “Dexter,” and maybe even, on certain points, “True Blood” and “Sex and the City.”

Now don’t get me talking about the absence of Filipino series in that enumeration. That probably deserves another post. Or none at all.

Before I go rant about the black hole in Philippine entertainment, I might as well finish this Sopranos saga and look for the Godfather films next. I think it is high time for guns to be included in my list of favorite things (theoretically).

just curious

What happened to him? And what's his name again?

descent into obscurity

“I think you don’t see yourself the way others see you.”

Those are the words of Edith Bouvier Beale or “Big Edie” to her daughter, “Little Edie.” The line, though speaks against truisms of self-assurance, actually works the opposite for the two characters. In fact, both live for themselves for the most part of their existence.

Such is their blindness by other people’s thoughts after a series of misfortunes—left by a lover, a husband, numerous bills, luxury lost—that the former socialites have ignored their mansion, Grey Gardens, decomposing with numerous cats and raccoons around them, only breathing with their dreams that someday the slippery nature of opulence will soon transpire in their lives again.

Michael Sucsy’s “Grey Gardens”, a movie I have just seen last night on television starring Drew Barrymore as Little Edie and Jessica Lange as Big Edie, is a kind of mosaic, a firsthand retelling of the Beales’s lives though the lens of two documentary filmmakers, Albert and David Maysles. (It’s like an hours-long “the making” of the 1975 documentary).

In a nutshell, it tells Little Edie wanting to be a stage performer, just as better as her mother, but Big Eddie and her husband keeps that away from her, suggesting that finding the right husband (which means “rich husband” in the time of Depression) is more important. This husband also has another family, and when he could no longer handle Big Eddie’s excessive lifestyle, throwing in one party after another, he left both mother and child. From here on, the once glamorous Beales’s descent into obscurity begins.

Aside from the admirable performances of the two key actors, “Grey Gardens” works for its point: love and passion can sometimes eat you up inside, leaving you hollow, that even in the midst of decay, the fantasy of the past is far more real and believable if you still believe in it, comfortable with it. The idea is poignant, if not distressing. This premise may be a bit too much but this could very well be the only means of enduring life’s oddities: to prevent assaults of whatever form, one must hold on to one’s self. And in here, the Beales hold on dearly.

The two characters may not be the perfect people to embody victims, what with the extravagant lives they once have, but it is this very absence of concrete conflict that makes the Beales story endearing. They have brought themselves down, care for no one but themselves, so in a way, it is fitting they find redemption in each other.

Yes, their quirks and eccentricities have gotten people’s attention, especially after the release of the Maysles documentary years later, but it is these very things that make them authentically human, affecting.

of glee, charice, and third world spite

It may be a little bit late writing now about the very first appearance of Charice in the second season premiere of the pop-culture hogging television series, Glee? But what’s not to write? The show about high school oddballs resuscitating a glee club that is led by a Spanish teacher simply attracts anyone’s attention—it begs for one.

If that isn’t compelling enough, a storyline that may not be as seamless as we want it to be but remains truthful to the human psyche, there are the outrageous and amusing musical numbers. In these dreary times, this is the breather we need.

And for Filipino viewers, the inclusion of the little girl with a big voice, Charice, makes the show even more watchable. Why? The 18-year-old Filipina, who goes by the name of “Sunshine Corazon” in the series, embodies one the most enduring life stories in history: the rags-to-riches tale.

For someone who is shunned by her own homeland—losing in what is ironically a talent show to a lesser skilled fellow with smooth moves and good looks, only receiving a collective sigh and modest cheers in numerable performances—her bagging this upward shot to fame in another country is well-deserved. (Of course, you know the story, so there’s no need diving into details).

It is a shame, really, that it is only now that most people come to acknowledge her, even praise her for what she has achieved, but do these same people even regarded that she would get this kind of success before? No, I don’t think so. (People’s eyes are glued on Pacquiao).

If yes, she should have won that talent competition by a wide margin, she should have signed an album deal the minute she was done with the said competition, she should have sung in line with the supposedly talented cookie-cutter performers in variety shows and not behind them, and lastly, if not for third world spite and excessive superficiality, she should have disregarded the thought of going under the needle to “soften her jaw-line.”

It seems to me that it is the majority of my fellow countrymen’s fault that Charice has made it big in the international scene. We disregarded and pushed her that she fell on her knees on American soil, until the universe conspired and made television icon Ellen Degeneres and then entertainment magnate Oprah Winfrey get her up on her feet.

Hah, the wheel has indeed turned!

Anyway, this is just something I have to share. Though many still think of the contrary, I believe this is not going to be another 15-minutes-kind-of-fame. With her undeniable talent, she will be staying. Even ahead of the rest who have once deemed her irrelevant.

i agree

Carnivale

(September 2003 - March 2005)

This beautiful period drama, set during the great Depression, sank deep into the never-ending battle between good and evil, all against the backdrop of a traveling carnival. It boasted the most unique set of characters we'd seen since "Twin Peaks," and some of the most confusing storytelling we'd seen since that show as well. But just because we were sometimes baffled doesn't mean it wasn't compelling TV. This ambitious, artistic series set out to unfold its complete drama over six seasons but was cut short after only two, leaving us scratching our heads even more.

- By Angel Cohn, The Best Brilliant But Cancelled Dramas of the Decade

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2009 golden globe winners

I’ve seen this movie just last month and it's more than "good." Stripped off the usual Hollywood fare, it makes me question why can’t Filipinos create a film as good as this? And to underline that it’s really great, it wins all four major nominations in the 2009 Golden Globe Awards. The movie is “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Amazingly, Kate Winslet wins both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for “Revolutionary Road” and “The Reader” respectively. Mickey Rourke, Colin Farrell, Sally Hawkins and Heath Ledger receive the other film acting honors and "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan delivers a speech on the late Ledger’s behalf.

The positive early buzz for the movie “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a dud though. It didn’t receive any awards.

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Slumdog Millionaire *WINNER

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

The Reader

Revolutionary Road

Best Motion Picture - Comedy

Vicky Cristina Barcelona *WINNER

Burn After Reading

Happy-Go-LuckyIn Bruges

Mamma Mia!

Best Performance By An Actress
In a Motion Picture – Drama

Kate Winslet ("Revolutionary Road") *WINNER

Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married")

Angelina Jolie ("Changeling")

Meryl Streep ("Doubt")

Kristin Scott Thomas ("I've Loved You So Long")

Best Performance By An Actor
In a Motion Picture – Drama

Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler") *WINNER

Leonardo DiCaprio ("Revolutionary Road")

Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon")

Sean Penn ("Milk")

Brad Pitt ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")

Best Performance By An Actress
In a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

Sally Hawkins ("Happy-Go-Lucky") *WINNER

Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona")

Frances McDormand ("Burn After Reading")

Meryl Streep ("Mamma Mia!")

Emma Thompson ("Last Chance Harvey")

Best Performance By An Actor
In a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

Colin Farrell ("In Bruges") *WINNER

Javier Bardem ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona")

James Franco ("Pineapple Express")

Brendan Gleeson ("In Bruges")

Dustin Hoffman ("Last Chance Harvey")

Best Performance By An Actress
In a Supporting Role In a Motion Picture

Kate Winslet ("The Reader") *WINNER

Amy Adams ("Doubt")

Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona")

Viola Davis ("Doubt")

Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler")

Best Performance By An Actor
In a Supporting Role In a Motion Picture

Heath Ledger ("The Dark Knight") *WINNER

Tom Cruise ("Tropic Thunder")

Robert Downey Jr. ("Tropic Thunder")

Ralph Fiennes ("The Duchess")

Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt")

Best Director - Motion Picture

Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire") *WINNER

Stephen Daldry ("The Reader")

David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")

Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon")

Sam Mendes ("Revolutionary Road")

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

Simon Beaufoy ("Slumdog Millionaire") *WINNER

David Hare ("The Reader")

Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon")

Eric Roth ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")

John Patrick Shanley ("Doubt")

Best Animated Feature Film

Wall-E *WINNER

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Best Foreign Language Film

Waltz with Bashir (Israel) *WINNER

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany

)Everlasting Moments (Sweden)

Gomorra (Italy)

I've Loved You So Long (France)

Best Original Score - Motion Picture

R. Rahman ("Slumdog Millionaire") *WINNER

Alexandre Desplat ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")

Clint Eastwood ("Changeling")

James Newton Howard ("Defiance")

Hans Zimmer ("Frost/Nixon")

Best Original Song - Motion Picture

"The Wrestler" from "The Wrestler" *WINNER

"Down to Earth" from "Wall-E"

"Gran Torino" from "Gran Torino"

"I Thought I Lost You" from "Bolt"

"Once in a Lifetime" from "Cadillac Records"

Best Television Series - Drama

Mad Men *WINNER

Dexter

House

In Treatment

True Blood

Best Performance By An Actress
in a Television Series – Drama

Anna Paquin ("True Blood") *WINNER

Sally Field ("Brothers and Sisters")

Mariska Hargitay ("Law and Order: SVU")

January Jones ("Mad Men")

Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer")

Best Performance By An Actor
in a Television Series – Drama

Gabriel Byrne ("In Treatment") *WINNER

Michael Hall ("Dexter")

Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")

Hugh Laurie ("House")

Jonathan Rhys Meyers ("The Tudors")

Best Television Series – Comedy/Musical

30 Rock *WINNER

Californication

Entourage

The Office

Weeds

Best Performance By An Actress
in a Television Series –Comedy/Musical

Tina Fey ("30 Rock") *WINNER

Christina Applegate ("Samantha Who?")

America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty")

Debra Messing ("The Starter Wife")

Mary-Louise Parker ("Weeds")

Best Performance By An Actor
in a Television Series – Comedy/Musical

Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock") *WINNER

Steve Carell ("The Office")

Kevin Connolly ("Entourage")

David Duchovny ("Californication")

Tony Shalhoub ("Monk")

Best Mini-Series or TV Movie

John Adams (HBO) *WINNER

A Raisin in the Sun (ABC)

Bernard and Doris (HBO)

Cranford (PBS)

Recount (HBO)

Best Performance By An Actress In a Mini-Series/TV Movie

Laura Linney ("John Adams") *WINNER

Judi Dench ("Cranford")

Catherine Keener ("An American Crime")

Shirley Maclaine ("Coco Chanel")

Susan Sarandon ("Bernard and Doris")

Best Performance By An Actor In a Mini-Series/TV Movie

Paul Giamatti ("John Adams") *WINNER

Ralph Fiennes ("Bernard and Doris")

Kevin Spacey ("Recount")

Kiefer Sutherland ("24: Redemption")

Tom Wilkinson ("Recount")

Best Performance By An Actress In a Supporting Role
In a Series/Mini-Series/TV Movie

Laura Dern ("Recount") *WINNER

Eileen Atkins ("Cranford")

Melissa George ("In Treatment")

Rachel Griffiths ("Brothers and Sisters")

Dianne Wiest ("In Treatment")

Best Performance By An Actor In a Supporting Role
In a Series/Mini-Series/TV Movie

Tom Wilkinson ("John Adams") *WINNER

Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother")

Denis Leary ("Recount")

Jeremy Piven ("Entourage")

Blair Underwood ("In Treatment")

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warning: dangerous content

I know this is going to be tough for you guys so grab your bags fast. An involuntary retching might take place. One, two, three, and… Fine. I've just grabbed these from someone's blogsite and the Rayver Cruz-Shaina Magdayao tandem, in my honest opinion, looks cute but this one? This is plain ridiculous! All this hype is making me nauseate.

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